During the Code Conference on Wednesday, Apple SVP of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue revealed Apple sold 20 million Apple TVs to date and raked in more than $1 billion from set-top streamer sales in fiscal 2013. He expects the business to grow even larger in 2014.

Speaking with Dan Lyons of "Fake Steve Jobs" blog fame, late Apple cofounder Steve Jobs' biographer Walter Isaacson said he thinks the alleged tie up with Beats Electronics could be more about content -- and Jimmy Iovine -- than software and hardware.

Despite the increasing popularity of streaming set-top boxes, gaming consoles, and so-called "smart TVs," just 42 million of America's 115 million households have televisions that can display content from the Internet, suggesting significant room for growth for Apple TV.

Microsoft on Tuesday announced that consumers will soon be able to purchase a cheaper, Kinect-less Xbox One bundle and won't be forced to subscribe to Xbox Live Gold in order to use media services like Netflix or MLB.TV on their consoles, bending to price pressure from Sony's PlayStation 4 and streaming boxes such as the Apple TV.

Consumers hoping Apple chief Tim Cook would take advantage of next month's Worldwide Developers Conference to announce the hotly-anticipated "iWatch" or long-awaited Apple TV revamp are likely to be disappointed, as the event will reportedly not include debuts for either of those new products.

As the tail end of Apple's quarterly conference call, Apple CEO Tim Cook threw out a somewhat surprising statistic, saying the company has sold some 20 million Apple TV units since the unit launched in 2007.

When Amazon launched its Fire TV earlier this month, the company positioned casual gaming as one of the set-top streamer's "bonus" features. In this review follow-up, AppleInsider picks up the controller to find out if mobile gaming is ready for the living room.

Apple apparently has big plans for the Apple TV set-top box in 2014, with an entirely new model that will reportedly feature motion controls for easier user input. But customers holding out hope for a full-fledged television set from Apple are likely to be disappointed.

The set-top streaming business got a little more crowded when Amazon announced the Fire TV last week. With voice-activated search, predictive content loading and a gaming "bonus feature," the Internet retail giant is positioning its new device as a cure-all usability for problems plaguing existing products.

According to supposedly leaked documents, Google is readying a new contender for the living room in Android TV, a set-top box with an easy-to-use card interface, voice controls, push notifications and more.

Analyst Gene Munster, who has long held out hope for a more fully functional Apple TV and even a full television set from the company, believes that Wednesday's launch of the Amazon fireTV should serve as further motivation for Apple to make major moves in the television space.

Already a content creator and seller, Amazon will now enter the set-top box business with the new $99 fireTV, launching today with video streaming and gaming capabilities, taking on the likes of the Apple TV, Roku, and Chromecast.

Though he offered no evidence to prove it, the CEO of Roku said this week that he believes rival set-top streamer Apple TV is a money losing product, though one analyst believes the device is more likely a break-even business for APple.

Though the U.S. government wouldn't need to approve a deal between Apple and Comcast for faster and more reliable streaming video, such an alignment would likely draw regulatory scrutiny, in particular with respect to its effects on net neutrality.